NATIONAL ELECTION RETURNS : EDITION-TIME COMPILATIONS : State-by-State Election Reports of Key Races and Issues : Connecticut
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HARTFORD, Conn. — Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd won over Republican Roger W. Eddy and Democratic Gov. William A. O’Neill defeated a surprisingly strong challenge from Republican Julie D. Belaga.
Belaga, a moderate who serves as the deputy state House majority leader, had won a three-way primary without the state GOP endorsement. Early polls had showed her within striking distance of O’Neill, who sought a second full term.
O’Neill had a 16-point lead in a Hartford Courant-Institute for Social Inquiry Connecticut Poll released Friday, but both he and Belaga had said they thought that the results would be much closer.
Her election would make Connecticut the only state to have had two woman governors. O’Neill assumed the job when Gov. Ella Grasso stepped down because she was dying from cancer.
Dodd, seeking a second term, was leading Eddy in Friday’s poll, 52% to 18%.
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